A Rare Case of Rapidly Transforming Pancreatitis With Life-Threatening Complications and Multi-Organ Failure

Acute pancreatitis affects approximately 50,000-80,000 Americans each year. Eighty percent of those cases are related to alcohol use or biliary stones. It has traditionally been thought of as a self-limiting disease, in which the pancreas fully recovers with little or no intervention. The occurrence of complications, particularly infectious ones, characterize the most severe forms of acute pancreatitis and is associated with high mortality. We present a case of acute pancreatitis with transformation into necrotizing and hemorrhagic pancreatitis complicated with splenic vein thrombosis (SVT), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute kidney injury (AKI), and later, fungemia.